August 13, 2008
Wednesday

A new scam has been announced involving voter registration. According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers may send messages asking for Social Security number or financial information to register you to vote or to confirm your registration. Scammers are representing themselves as being from the location election board.

The Alaska Division of Elections warns voters that Division staff would never ask a voter to provide financial information to register or confirm voter registration. If you get a message asking for this information, it is a scam to commit identity theft.

When registering to vote for the first time, voters are required to provide one identifier such as the last-4 digits of the Social Security number, Alaska driver's license number, or Alaska State ID number on the voter registration application, along with their date of birth. This information is confidential on voter records. If a voter failed to provide the required information, the Division of Elections would send the voter a written letter, on Division letterhead. We would not ask the voter for this information over the telephone.

If you get an unsolicited phone call or e-mail from someone who claims to need your Social Security number or financial information to register you to vote, report it to the FTC online at www.ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-FTC-HELP.

If you already have shared your personal information with someone you don't know, you may be the victim of a scam. File your complaint with the FTC, then visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft .

Source of News:

Alaska Division of Elections
www.elections.alaska.gov

SitNews ©2008
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska